Subaru Crew Cafe

Comments

Yeah that's what happens with any of these systems for the first 5 or so miles they are using the skewed fuel consumption for those miles. Like the gas station is uphill from my house so if I fill up on my way home, I get like 50mpg until I go back up the hill!

I think part of the issue is that folks are using the sport setting incorrectly.

Back in the old days (8-10 years ago) the sport modes in most Automatics produced a more sporty shift mode and harder shifts but nothing crazy. Nowadays the sport modes are meant for hard driving. I found this out on both my 335ix and my XJ. If I drive it in sport mode, I will experience lurching, and the gears will be held almost to redline. When I drove the OB with the CVT I experienced similar reactions when I put the CVT into sport mode.

CVT in general works quite well in '14XT. Doesn't drone much and is more responsive than the older 4 EAT it replaced.

But, '14 XT CVT gets weird in sport# mode: while CVT tries to stay in gears longer and doesn't upshift as quickly, it will still upshift to top of its range if user is cruising at moderate speeds. It is as if Subaru were still trying to get maximum MPG out of CVT even when in sport# mode. Unfortunately that slows down responsiveness (CVT has to re-ratio itself before vehicle will actually accelerate). :surprise: Might be better if CVT in sport# stayed a couple of steps below tallest ration to maximize responsiveness. If user _wants_ maximum MPG, simply stay in intelligent or sport modes.

Also, CVT in sport# sometimes gets confused and can give vehicle a hard lurch after a moderate slowdown :surprise:

I have the "old" 5MT and get way better mpg than rated... instead of the 24 or 26, I think the lowest avg I've gotten (per the gauge) is ~28mpg. Best is about 32mpg. They say the 2014AT get better mpg than the 6MT? Not sure if I believe that. Comments?

I did recently test drive the 2014, and got a $30 gift certificate to a store I frequent! It is a lot quieter vehicle. Sound system is better, handling on corners appears better. Don't like that I can't get a MT with the big sunroof. What's with that?

Not in the market yet anyway as I have a 2010, although I really love how much quieter the 2014 is!!!

I've actually got a '13 Outback in my driveway right now. It's a dealer loaner as our Forester is in for the 7500-mile service.

The Outback is pretty nice, even though this one is a base model. Had a '12 loaner a couple of weeks ago while my WRX was being serviced, but this one seems nicer. Noticed the driver's seat seems to bettter bolstered than the '12 model. Also, this car is much quieter on the highway than my WRX. That's becoming more important to me. Must be getting old.

That's a definite sign that you are getting older Bob . I had a love hate relationship with our Protege 5. The thing handled well, cornered like it was on rails, but Geez was it noisy. I went the route of sound deadening, completely gutted the interior and covered all panels including the roof with B Quiet sound deadening then reinstalled everything.

It was a big job and frankly the end result was less than satisfactory, I just couldn't take the noise any more and much to Rita's chagrin I sold it. She loved it, but I am into quiet now and that is a big consideration in any car purchase I will make in future. I tried the regular Impreza before settling on the Mazda3 Gt hatch. The Impreza was noisier than I wanted. Granted the Mazda3 is no Lexus in terms of quiet, but is streets ahead of the Protege5 that it replaced and way quieter than the Impreza.

Was in my son David's BMW X1 yesterday. It is much quieter than our '13 Forester and my '09 WRX. I really appreciate that. Most cars today have decent power and handling, so I'm looking at other areas that enhance the driving/ownership experience.

I'm not wild about the X1's styling, but the more time I spend in David's car, the more I appreciate it. Like me, he's 5'9". I was sitting in the rear seat behind him, and I had plenty of legroom. It's considered a 5-seater, but I think sitting tree across in the rear would be uncomfortable for all. It's a great 4-seater, not so much as a 5-seater. Like other BMWs, and European cars in general, it had a very taut feeling about it.

so does anyone know what this car is? Two seater roadster RHD so almost certainly JDM. Clearly new but made to look retro and with an Italian sounding name which I forgot before I had the chance to google it. Ring any bells. I saw two in Vancouver last week.